Lazy Christmas Composition

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Description

How about practising some composition this Christmas without even leaving your sofa? Christmas is a great time to practise the techniques of photography because there's usually loads of sparkly Christmassy stuff going on which makes for some great photos.

So here's a little exercise for you to try. Sit yourself down near the Christmas tree and see how many photos you can compose without moving. You don't need majestic scenery or exotic locations to practise. You can do it anywhere. And by practising you'll learn what you need to do when you are somewhere exciting!

Back to photographing the Christmas tree. Don't forget to think about what you're doing before you do it. How much light have you got to play with? How far away is the tree? What focal length will you need? Do you need a tripod to avoid camera shake - or can you get away with increasing the ISO and shooting hand held?

This is all about Thinking Like a Photographer, because images begin as thoughts which you have to give birth to. You have to bring them to life and make them reality which is why I made the 7 Building Blocks of Photography to help you do it. (If you're just starting out go for the Beginners Course first)

So you thought about how much light you have - now what about the quality of light? Does it look flat and dull? Should you sit the other side? I don't recommend using flash (unless you're experienced with it) because it'll wham into the tree and kill the mood. Don't be scared to increase your ISO. If you're not familiar with this technique, try shooting flash, then available light to see what the difference is.

Keep asking questions and finding answers to them.

It'd be really cool to see some of your Lazy Christmas Compositions on our Facebook page so please drop by and show us some...

Finally I want to say a massive thank you to everyone and to wish you all a tremendous Christmas and Happy 2016. If you don't do Christmas just have a great few days and keep clicking those cameras.